Apparatus for forming and collecting filamentary materials



J1me 1966 w. s. MARTIN ETAL 3,254,850

APPARATUS FOR FORMING AND COLLECTING FILAMENTARY MATERIALS Filed Oct. 17, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 my. g

IN VENTORS June 1966 w. s. MARTIN ETAL 3,254,850

APPARATUS FOR FORMING AND COLLECTING FILAMENTARY MATERIALS Filed Oct. 17, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A a Q Q ll HIH' 4 I N R R INVENTORS JTTQRNEVJ M057 5. MART/N &

United States Patent 3,254,850 APPARATUS FQR FORMING AND COLLECTING FILAMENTARY MATERIALS Wiley S. Martin and Jerome P. Klink, Anderson, S.C.,

assignors to Owens-Corning Fiherglas Corporation, a

corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 17, 1963, Ser. No. 316,895 Claims; ((31. 24218) This invention relates to apparatus for forming and collecting filaments of heat-softened iaterial wherein the filaments are attenuated from streams of the material by winding dual strands of the filaments on dual collectors or tubes wherein the strands are concomitantly traversed and distributed on the collectors, the invention pertaining more especially to an apparatus for collecting strands in comparatively large diameter packages mounted upon a single drive member or collet during strand collection.

Heretofore it has been a usual practice to collect strands of filaments by winding the strands upon tubes or collectors of about seven inches in diameter and one or two such collectors mounted upon'a collet driven at high speed wherein the collet is supported in bearings disposed in an enclosure spaced a substantial distance from the winding region. 4

While such arrangement is satisractory for comparativel-y high speed winding where the collector tubes are of seven inches or less in diameter, such arrangement is not satisfactory for wind-ing strands at high speeds onto collectors of larger diameters because of the tendency for the collector supporting collet to vibrate, a condition which impairs attenuation of the streams to filaments by causing vibration of the strand resulting in frequent filament breakouts. The occurrence of break-outs of the filaments necessitates interruption of attenuation, resulting in considerable waste of filamentary material at a subsequent start up and appreciable loss of time to re-establish proper operating conditions.

The present invention pertains to a winding apparatus constructed and arranged to wind strands of filaments on comparatively large diameter collectors to form large packages of strand wherein the rotatable collet supporting the collectors upon which the strands are wound is supported by bearing means arranged at a central region of the collet whereby to eliminate vibration and provide a collet support in the region to withstand the comparatively high tension of the strands set up during the winding operations.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a winding apparatus for collecting strands in dual packages mounted upon a single collet wherein the collet is supported in bearings disposed within and adjacent the central reg-ion of the collet to provide adequate support for the comparatively large packages of strand whereby winding operations may be satisfactorily carried on without vibration of the collet or the packages during their formation.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of dual oscillators for concomitantly traversing strands in the formation of dual packages mounted on a single rotatable collet for distributing the strand lengthwise in forming the packages and oscillating the strands to effect crossing of individual strand convolutions wherein a drive means for rotating the dual oscillators is disposed between the oscillators whereby an improved dynamic balance is attained and vibration of the oscillators rotating at high speeds is eliminated.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a mounting means for dual oscillators for traversing dual strands on rotating collectors wherein the oscillators may be adjusted to accommodate the winding of packages of varying diameters or sizes to establish the desired Patented June 7, 1966 angles of incidence of the strand with the packages being formed.

Further objects and advantages are within the scope of this invention such as relate to the arrangement, operation and function of the related elements of the struc ture, to various details of constructions and to combinations of parts, elements per se, and to economies of manutacture and numerous other features as will be apparent from a consideration of the specification and drawing of a form of the invention, which may be preferred, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view illustrating a winding apparatus embodying the invention for forming and collecting strands of filaments of heat-softenable material in wound packages;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus illustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a detail view illustrating a mounting means of the invention for the strand traverse oscillator means, and

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view through the winding collet and drive means therefor.

While the apparatus of the invention is particularly usable in the formation of wound packages of strands formed of filaments of glass or other heat-softenable material, it is to be understood that the apparatus may be utilized in the collect-ion or packaging of other linear materials.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and initially to FIG- URES l and 2, there is illustrated a conventional type of stream feeder or bushing 14) which may be supported by a forehearth 12 containing a supply of heat-softened fiberforming material, such as glass, the feeder 16) having a floor 14 provided with a comparatively large number of orificed tips or projections 16 arranged in two groups through which streams 13 of glass or other material are flowed and the streams attenuated to filaments 24 The feeder 10 is formed of an alloy of platinum and rhodium or other material capable of withstanding the intense heat of molten glass. The filaments 20 of one group are gathered together by a gathering shoe 22 to form a strand 24, and the filaments of the other group are gathered together by a gathering shoe 25 to form a strand 28. The filaments of the groups are provided with a coating of liquidmataerial or size by dual applicator arrangements 3% and 32 of conventional construction, as shown in FIGURE 1.

Each applicator includes a receptacle 34 containing a quantity of size or coating material and an applicator member 35, which may be in the form of a roll, immersed in the coating material, the coating material being transferred to the filaments through contact with the film of material on the roll. In the embodiment illustrated, the strands 24 and 28 are concomitantly wound upon individual collectors or tubes 33 and mounted upon a collet 42 of a winding apparatus or machine 44 to form strand packages 47. As the collet construction and its support form important features of the invention, this construction will be hereinafter more fully described.

The collector tubes or sleeves 38 and 40 and the collet are driven at comparatively high speeds whereby the streams are attenuated to comparatively fine filaments by winding the strands on the tubes. The strands 24 and 23 are distributed lengthwise of the tubes by traverse oscillators 46, supported and driven in a manner hereinafter described.

The oscillators are rotated to etfect a crossing of individual convolutions or wraps of strand and are reciprocated to distribute the strands lengthwise on the packages.

The arrangement for supporting and driving the collet 42 is. particularly shown in FIGURE 4. Disposed within a housing 45 of the winding apparatus adjacent an opening in the housing is a frame member or bracket 48 formed with a circular portion 50 provided with a cylindrical surface 52, the bracket 48 having an extension '54 provided with a cylindrical interior surface. Mounted within the cylindrical surface 52 is a sleeve or bushing 56. The interior cylindrical surface of the bushing 56 and the interior cylindrical surface of the bracket extension 54 accommodate the circular housing 58 of an electrically energizable motor 68 for driving the collet 42.

The bushing 56 is secured in the bracket portion 50 by setscrews 62. Mounted at the forward end of the motor housing 58 is an extension or member 64 having a tenon portion which snugly fits a cylindrical surface 66 formed on the forward end of the motor housing 58, the member 64 being secured to the motor housing 58 by threaded members or screws 68 or other suitable securing means.

The motor includes a shaft 70, a portion 72 of the shaft directly mounting the armature 74 of the motor. The field construction 76 of the motor is carried by the motor housing 58. The rear end of the motor housing 58 is provided with an end plate or closure 78 secured to the motor housing by screws 79.

The end plate 78 provides a support or mounting for an anti-friction or ball bearing means 80 in which is journaled one end of the shaft 7 0, a threaded nut 82 securing the inner race 83 of the bearing means 80 on the shaft 70. The end region of the shaft adjacent the bearing and the securing nut 82 are enclosed by a cover plate 84.

The forwardly projecting end region of the extension or member 64 is equipped with an anti-friction or ball bearing means 88, the shaft 70 being provided with a portion of reduced diameter carrying the inner ball race 92 of the anti-friction bearing 88. The shaft 70 is provided with a threaded portion 94 which receives a nut 96 securing the ball race 92 in proper position on the shaft 70. The outer ball race 98 is held in place by a plate 100 secured to the extension or member 64 by screws 102.

Also formed on the shaft 70 is a tapered portion 104 on which is mounted an inwardly extending portion 106 of the collet 42,the portion 106 being formed with a tapered opening to properly fit upon the portion 104 of the shaft 78. The collet 42 is fixedly secured to the tapered portion 104 of the shaft by a threaded nut 108, a washer 109 being disposed between the nut and the portion 106.

The end of the shaft adjacent the nut 108 is fashioned with a polygonal portion 110 to receive a suitable tool to hold the shaft in fixed relation to enable drawing up or releasing the nuts 96 and 108.

The opposite end of the shaft is provided with a polygonally-shaped portion 111 for the same purpose. The peripheral region of the collet 42 is fashioned with circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending slots 114 to accommodate longitudinal extending bars or members 116 which are normally biased outwardly of the axis of the collet by expansive coil springs 118.

The collectors or tubes 38 and 40 upon which the 'packages of strand are to be wound or formed are telescoped over the bars 116, the springs 118 serving to frictionally retain the tubes on the collet to effect rotation of the tubes with the collet. The ends of the bars 116 adjacent the housing 45 are secured in place by means of a retainer plate 120 secured to the collet 42 by screws 122, the bars having portions interlocking in slots (not shown) formed in the plate 120 in a conventional manner. The opposite ends of the bars 116 have portions extending into notches (not shown) formed in an end or closure plate 128, the end plate 128 being secured to the collet by a bearing support for the collet effective to resist vibration of the collet and the packages of strand material carried thereby.

Through this arrangement the filaments of the strands may be attenuated at high linear speeds through high speed rotation of the collet without vibration-of the strand or filaments thereby minimizing strand break-outs.

The motor 60 is of the variable speed type, preferably an induction motor wherein the speed of the motor may be varied by changing the frequency of the input current. The speed of the motor is progressively reduced by conventional control means as the strand packages increase in'size so that the filaments of the strands are attenuated at substantially constant linear speeds. The portion 106 adjacent the central region of the collet is of a length to provide for adequate support for the collet 42 on the shaft portion 104.

The collet 42 is substantially larger in diameter than conventional collets, being upwards of eleven inches or more in diameter. The larger collet presents a substantially increased weight which, together with the packages of strand, which are of increased size over the conventional size package, provides a substantial mass rotating at a comparatively high speed. The bearing means 88, being adjacent the central region of the collet, provides a means to adequately carry the load and effectively eliminates any tendency for the collet and packages carried thereby to vibrate.

The invention includes novel means for supporting and driving the dual strand oscillators 46 to attain improved dynamic balance of the rotating oscillators.

The oscillators are driven by means disposed between the oscillators,- the mounting means being adjustable to vary the position of the oscillators dependent upon the size of the packages being formed to assure proper guidance and control of the strands during their collection. Projecting through an opening in the housing 45 of the winding apparatus is a shaft or member 134, the axis of which is parallel with the axis of the collet 42.

The bar or member 134 is supported for reciprocation lengthwise of the collet, the reciprocation thereof being effected by conventional means. The purpose of reciprocating the member 134 is to effect traverse of the strands lengthwise of the packages to properly distribute the strands in the formation of the packages. A motor 136 for rotating the strand oscillators 46 is supported or mounted upon the shaft 134 by'mounting means particularly shown in FIGURE 3.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 3, the mounting means includes a bracket member 138 and a cooperating clamp member 140 which, together embrace the bar or member 134, the clamp 140 being secured to the bracket 138 by screws 142 cooperating with suitable threaded openings in the bracket 138. Secured to a planar extension 144 of the bracket 138 is a second clamp or member 146 having a semicylindrical surface 148 adapted to fit the cylindrical exterior surface 150 of a housing of the motor 136 in the manner shown in FIGURE 3.

The motor 136 may be an electrically energizable motor or a hydraulic-type motor for rotating the shaft 152 on which the strand oscillators 46 are fixedly mounted. In the embodiment illustrated, the motor'shaft 152 is elongated and carries the oscillators 46. Means is provided, such as the bolts or threaded members 154, mounted in threaded openings in the leg portions 156 of the bracket 146 adapted to be drawn into securing engagement with the housing of the motor.

In operation the reciprocation of the bar 134 moves the traverse oscillators 46 lengthwise of the package to distribute the strands onto the tubes 38 and 40 to form elongated strand packages 47and, at the same time, the motor 136 is rotated at a comparatively high speed, rotating the oscillators 46 to effect a crossing of the individual wraps or convolutions of strand during the collecting operation.

The oscillation of the strands to cause crossing convolutions of the strand is essential Where a coating material or size is applied to the strands prior to their collection, as shown in FIGURE 1, the crossing convolutions preventing adherence of the convolutions which would otherwise impair unwinding of the strands from the packages in subsequent processing operations. A planar portion 158 of the motor support bracket 146 is provided with a longitudinal slot 160, a bolt 162 extending through the slot and threaded into the planar portion 144 of bracket 138 holds the bracket 146 in fixed relation to the bracket 138.

The mounting arrangement hereinabove described provides for several adjustments of the drive motor 136 and the dual oscillators 46. By manipulating the screws 142, the mounting bracket assembly may be moved lengthwise relative to the bar 134 and additionally rotated about the axis of the bar to adjust the traverse oscillators in an are about the axis of the bar 134. By drawing up the screws 142, the motor 136 and traverse oscillators 46 may be held in a relatively fixed relation with respect to the bar 134. By manipulating the screw 162, the bracket 146, carrying the motor and dual oscillator assembly, may be moved toward or away from the bar 134 to thereby adjust the positions of the oscillators 46 with respect to the angularity of the strands to maintain the oscillators in control of the strands. These adjustments facilitate the utilization of the apparatus for winding packages of varying diameters.

It is apparent that, within the scope of the invention, modifications and different arrangements may be made other than as herein disclosed, and the present disclosure is illustrative merely, the invention comprehending all variations thereof.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for collecting a linear bundle of fibers including, in combination, a support, a rotatable winding collet arranged to collect a linear bundle of fibers, a variable speed motor having a housing mounted on the support, said winding collet having an axial recess, an extension associated with the housing of the motor projecting into the axial recess in the collet and terminating adjacent the central region lengthwise of the collet, a shaft for the motor having a portion projecting through and beyond the extension, said collet being mounted on the projecting portion of the shaft for rotation with the shaft, and bearing means mounted by the terminal end of the extension adjacent the central region of the collet journally supporting the motor shaft.

2. Apparatus for collecting a linear bundle of fibers including, in combination, a support, a winding collet, a variable speed motor having a housing mounted on the support, said winding collet having an axial cylindrical recess in the end region thereof adjacent the motor housing, an extension associated with the motor housing projecting into the axial recess in the collet, a shaft for the motor having a portion projecting through and beyond the extension, said collet being mounted on the projecting portion of the shaft for rotation with the shaft, a first bearing means mounted at the distal end of the extension adjacent the central region lengthwise of the collet, a second bearing means associated with the motor housing, said first and second bearing means journally supporting the motor shaft, and an end plate for the collet, said collet being arranged to receive sleeve means upon which a linear bundle of fibers is collected.

3. Apparatus for concomitantly collecting linear material including, in combination, a support, a winding collet arranged to collect the linear material, a variable speed motor having a housing mounted on the support, said winding collet having an axial recess therein, a member secured to said motor housing and extending into the axial recess in said collet, said motor including a shaft having a portion projecting through and beyond said member, said collet having an intermediate portion mounted on the projecting portion of the motor shaft for rotation with the shaft, a first antifriction bearing means mounted at the distal end of the extension member, and a second antifriction bearing means spaced from the first bearing means, said first and second bearing means jou-rnally supporting the motor shaft, the bearing means in the distal end of said member being adjacent the central region lengthwise of the collet.

4. Apparatus for concomitantly collecting dual strands of linear material including, in combination, a support, a winding collet, a variable speed motor having a housing mounted on the support, said Winding collet having an axial recess therein, an extension member secured to said motor housing and disposed in the axial recess in said collet, said motor including a shaft having a portion projecting through and beyond said extension member, said collet having a portion intermediate its ends mounted on the projecting portion of the motor shaft for rotation with the shaft, anti-friction bearing means mounted at the distal end of the extension member and journally supporting the motor shaft, a second bearing means associated with the motor housing journally supporting the motor shaft at the opposite end region thereof the bearing means at the distal end of the extension member being adjacent the central region lengthwise of the collet, said collet adapted to receive tubular means upon which the strands are collected during rotation of the collet.

5. Apparatus for concomitantly collecting dual strands of linear material in forming dual packages including, in combination, a support, a winding collet of a length to accommodate a pair of packaging tubes mounted in endto-end relation on the collet, a variable speed motor for rotating the collet having a housing and a shaft, said collet having an axial recess formed therein, said motor housing having an extension projecting into the axial recess provided in the collet and terminating adjacent the central region lengthwise of the collet, said motor shaft extending through the extension and having a tapered portion extending beyond the distal end of the extension, first bearing means mounted at the distal end region of the extension and second bearing means adjacent the motor housing journally supporting the motor shaft, said collet having an intermediate portion mounted on the tapered portion of said motor shaft for rotation therewith, and means securing the intermediate portion of the collet to the motor shaft.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,391,870 1/1946 Beach 24243 2,433,304 12/ 1947 Stream 24243 2,793,819 5/1957 Hayden 24254 2,891,798 6/1959 Smith.

2,947,489 8/1960 Russell 24218 3,109,602 11/1963 Smith 24218 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

STANLEY N. GILREATH, Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING A LINEAR BUNDLE OF FIBERS INCLUDING, IN COMBINATION, A SUPPORT, A ROTATABLE WINDING COLLET ARRANGED TO COLLECT A LINEAR BUNDLE OF FIBERS, A VARIABLE SPEED MOTOR HAVING A HOUSING MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORT, SAID WINDING COLLET HAVING AN AXIAL RECESS, AN EXTENSION ASSOCIATIONED WITH THE HOUSING OF THE MOTOR PROJECTING INTO THE AXIAL RECESS IN THE COLLET AND TERMINATING ADJACENT THE CENTRAL REGION LENGTHWISE OF THE COLLET, A SHAFT FOR THE MOTOR HAVING A PORTION PROJECTING THROUGH AND BEYOND THE EXTENSION, SAID COLLET BEING MOUNTED ON THE PROJECTING PORTION OF THE SHAFT FOR ROTATING WITH THE SHAFT, AND BEARING MEANS MOUNTED BY THE TERMINAL END OF THE EXTENSION ADJACENT THE CENTRAL REGION OF THE COLLET JOURNALLY SUPPORTING THE MOTOR SHAFT. 